Control



Feb. 20, 1951 c, M T 2,542,423

CONTROL Filed March 8, 194'? INVENTOR. HAQFZY C. METZGEE Ha/ w. WWW

Attorneys Patented Feb. 20, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTROL Harry G. Metz ger, LosAngeles, Calif. Application Mal-c118, 1947, Serial No. 733,392

(Cl. i k-501) end of a manually operable lever that is fulcrumed at or near its center. During the adjustment of the lever the end of the lever to which the wire is attached, of necessity passes through an arc and the attached end of the wire consequently must also move through the same are. It has been found that if the manually operable lever is quickly shifted so as to impart a push to the control wire, such as is occasioned in the course of quickly closing the throttle valve of the carburetor, the wire will be caused to kink due to the fact that a sudden heavy push is applied thereto through the arc. This kinking may hinder the movement of the wire within its protective sheath or casing and in extreme cases the kinking results in the wire breaking so that the throttle valve can no longer be controlled by the manually operable lever.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved control device for operating a push and pull control wire or rod wherein theendof the wire or rod as the case may be, instead of being connected directly to the manually operable lever, is connected to a guided slide the movement of which is restricted to a straightline path in direct alignment with the length of the wire or push rod. This slide, in turn, is connected to the manually operable lever by means of a pin and slot connection permitting the end of the lever to swing about its fulcrum through the required arc and have the arcuate movement of its end translated into a straight-line movement of the slide. Means is provided for frictionally holding the lever in any adjusted position to which it may havebeen set. In this manner, even though the lever is quickly shifted into a shutoff position pushing the wire or push rod with considerable force, danger of kinking the wire is eliminated.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be made manifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference is had to the accompanying drawings for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

Figure l is a view in side elevation of the improved control device;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectiontaken substantially upon the line 2-2 upon Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 isa partial view in side elevation similar to Fig. 1 but illustrating an alternative form of construction; and

Fig. 4 is a partial view in vertical section similar --to Fig. 2 but illustrating an alternative form of construction.

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, It indicates a suitable supporting plate adapted to be recessed in a dashboard or panel or any other suitable structure suitable for conveniently mounting a con.- trol lever I I. This plate adjacent its corners has suitable cars 12 through which screws is may be extended to attach a face plate 24 thereto and for mounting the plate It] and its face plate on the dashboard or panel. Near its center the plate It has a boss I 5 against which is positioned a fiber washer !6. The lever H is positioned against the fiber washer and is fulcrumed on a bolt ll extending through the lever, washer, and through the boss 15. about .the bolt II as a center and through the slot IS in theface plate. A type of spring it is interposed between the head of the bolt l7 and the lever H. In the form illustrated in Fig. 2, this spring merely consists of a thick washer slotted from opposite sides with slots 20 that preferably extend past the diameter of the washer. In this manner the washer is converted to a structure somewhat s -shaped in cross section functioning as a heavy spring to press the lever ll firmly against the fiber washer it and thus hold the lever in any adjusted position.

In that form of construction illustrated in Fig. 4, a similar spring action is provided by interposing a heavy rubber washer 2! between the head of the bolt and the lever so as to firmly and constantly press the lever against the fiber washer.

At the lower corners of the plate In there are bosses 22 and 23 having apertures 24 extending therethrough adapted to receive the closely coiled wire sheath or housing 25 of a control wire 26 sometimes referred to as a Bowden wire. This sheath may be anchored in place by means of aset screw 21. The sheath and wire may extend through either aperture 24 in either of the bosses 2 2 and 2-3, depending upon the most convenient arrangement. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the wire extends into the right hand boss 22 but if more convenient the same wire may be extended through the boss 23.

A straight slot 23 is milled or otherwise formed in the plate It in direct alignment with the passages 24 through the bosses so as to be in direct alignment with the wire 28 when the wire is installed. This slot is designed to receive a portion This lever is swingable 29 of a slide 39, The portion 29 has parallel top 3! is formed through the slide to accommodate the wire 26 from either direction and a set screw 32 extends axially into the slide to anchor the end of the wire 26 in place. This set screw also functions as a pin on the slide 3% that extends through an elongated slot 33 in the bottom of the lever. The top of the lever may be equipped with handles 3% and 35 attached thereto such as by a screw or bolt 38.

It will be appreciated from the above described construction that when the lever is swung about its pivot pin or bolt H as a center, the arcuate swinging movement of its lower end is translated into a straightdine movement of the slide 38 by virtue of the pin and slot connection at 32 and 33 and by virtue of the fact that the slide has its movement guided and restricted by the edges of the straight slot 28. In this manner the slide is required to move through a straightline path that is i direct alignment with the length of the wire 26. Consequently, even though the lever I i is suddenly manipulated with considerable force to push the wire 26 such as may be occasioned by suddenly closing a throttle valve, inasmuch as the push imparted to the wire 26 is in a straight-line directio by the slide 38, danger of bowing or kinking the wire 26 is eliminated. When the wire 26 is pulled by reversely operating the lever l i it will be maintained in any adjusted or set position by reason of the frictional engagementof the various parts.

The form of construction illustrated in Fig. 3 is the same as that above described with the exception that in lieu of using a wire 23 as the control device that is shifted by the slide, a push rod 3? is used which slides freely through either of the apertures or passages 24 in the bosses 22 and 23. In this form of construction the passage 3: in the slide 36 is enlarged to accommodate the anchored end of the push rod which is anchored therein by the set screw 32 in the same manner as previously described. The rod 3'? which may be extended through either of the bosses 22 or 23 will be pushed or pulled by the slide in a straightline direction,,thus avoiding frictional resistance to the shifting'of the push rod into any of its adjusted positions.

The above described construction is very advantageously employed on boats for controlling the throttle valve of the boat engine. In some boats there are dual engines each equipped with their own carburetors and which are independently operable. In such arrangements, two of the devices herein disclosed may be mounted on a dashboard, panel or other suitable support in side by side relationship so that the levers H of both constructions are sufficiently close together to enable them to be adjusted simultaneously, if desired, or independently if it is desired to control one engine independently of the other.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A control including a support, there being a straight slot in the sup-port, a slide positioned against the side of the supporthaving a portion extending into the slot, a lever pivotally mounted 4 upon the side of the support and extending over the outer face of the slide, said lever having a pin and slot connection with the slide whereby on swinging the lever the slide may move in the straight slot and be held therein by the lever, the slide being adapted to have a wire or control rod attached thereto, and means at the pivotal connection between the lever and the support for frictionally holding the lever in adjusted position.

2. A control including a support, there being a straight slot in the support, a slide positioned against the side of the support having an enlarged portion straddling the slot and bearing against the portions of the support bounding the slot, and a reduced portion extending into the slot, a lever pivotally mounted upon the side of the support and extending over the outer face of the slide, said lever having a slot adapted to receive another reduced portion of the slide, whereby on swinging the lever the slide may move in the straight slot and be held therein by the lever, said another reduced portion extending through the slot in the lever and protruding out the other side thereof, and means for fastening the control wire or rod to the slide.

3. A control including a support, there being a straight slot in the support, a slide positioned against the side of the support having an enlarged portion straddling the slot and bearing against the portions of the support bounding the slot, and a reduced portion extending into the slot, a lever pivotally mounted upon the side of the support and extending over the outer face or" the slide, said lever having a slot adapted to receive another reduced portion of the slide, whereby on swinging the leverv the slide may move in the straight slot and be held therein by the lever, said another reduced portion extending through the slot in the lever and protruding out the other side thereof, the slide being provided with a bore to receive a wire or control rod, the slide having a threaded bore extending through said another reduced portion to the first named bore, and a screw receivable in the threaded core to fasten a control wire or rod in the first named bore.

extending into and fitting between the walls of the slot so as to be guided thereby in a straightline movement, a lever pivotally mounted upon the side of the support and extending over the outer face of the slide, said lever having a pin and'slot connectionwith the'slide whereby on swinging the lever the slide may move in the 7 slot and be held therein by the lever, the slide being adapted to have a wire or control rod attached thereto. 7

' HARRY C. ME'IZGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS France May- 29,1933 

